Enhancing the Apparent Consumption of Foodstuffs Dataset to Inform Food Consumption Patterns

The Challenge

The Apparent Consumption of Selected Foodstuffs (ACSF) is a data asset established by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that uses product sales to estimate food and beverage consumption. 

The ACSF uses data from supermarket scanners, supplied by major supermarkets, to identify trends in food consumption and nutritional composition of the food being sold. This data complements national nutrition surveys on household food security. 

Together, these data assets monitor the nation’s food consumption and nutrition, helping to inform policy makers, regulators, health researchers and the food industry to contribute to food security research and inform policy settings.

However, to maximise the usefulness and relevance of the ACSF, the data should be built from sales at the most granular geographic level. Incorporating detailed sales data from small areas allows for measurement of consumption at a range of geographic scales and will provide a greater understanding of how food consumption and nutrition are influenced by socioeconomic factors and remoteness. Additionally, data infrastructure needs to be developed to support improved utility and accessibility of the ACSF data asset.

The Response

Building on the ACSF collection established by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we are supporting our partner in reporting on the apparent consumption of key foods and nutrients in small geographical areas.

This project will also enhance the ACSF data asset by improving the data coverage, particularly for remote and regional areas (such as the Northern Territory and regional Tasmania), to improve accuracy and accessibility.  

The Australian Bureau of Statistics website will publish a report detailing food and nutrient consumption information based on state/territory, socioeconomic status, and remoteness.

These efforts improve the quality and accessibility of food consumption data and allow trends to be identified. This enables policymakers and researchers to understand how the apparent consumption of foods and nutrients contribute to Australian food security, providing them with invaluable information to contribute to food security research and inform policy settings.

Who Will Benefit

• Government agencies
• Non-government organisations 
• Researchers 
• Industry

The Partners

• Australian Bureau of Statistics 
• ARDC
• Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Target Outcomes

The key outcomes for this project are the:

• establishment of data infrastructure for the reporting of food consumption at a sub-national level, including a published report on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website
• enhancement of the ACSF data asset to improve data coverage, accuracy, timeliness and accessibility for food security research.

Key Resources

• Read the latest report on the Apparent Consumption of Selected Foodstuffs on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.